


Cursed

by AppleSundae



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Adventure, Awkward Crush, Eventual Romance, Multi, Original character is dramatic as fuck, featuring trainer leon, more tags to come, no beta we just chillin, starts before game and leads into game events, well awkward crushes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:54:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22254466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AppleSundae/pseuds/AppleSundae
Summary: It didn’t matter what region you were in, it was commonplace that you did not, under any circumstances pull on the tail of a Ninetales.
Relationships: Kibana | Raihan/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 30





	1. Cursed on ya birthday

**Author's Note:**

> I just can't stop switching from interest to interest sorry ya'll. I've been having too much fun lately writing. Probably because I've stopped worrying so much about whether my stuff was good or not and have been focusing on just enjoying the process.

It didn’t matter what region you were in, it was commonplace that you did not, under any circumstances pull on the tail of a Ninetales. Now, they were mild mannered pokémon, and overall a good companion for people with families. It takes a lot for a Ninetales to snap, but when they did it was not pretty. It was ‘1,000 year curse level’ of not pretty and pulling on one of their tails was the fastest route to catching a Ninetales ire. 

Millie was a lot of things as a child, sadly ‘smart’ was not one of those things. She was however obsessed with her papaw’s Ninetales. It was such a gorgeous pokémon, so calm and had such glossy fur. Blaze was her papaw’s pride and joy, and he brought her almost everywhere with him. All these circumstances led to the unfortunate events of Millie’s sixth birthday party, otherwise dubbed as ‘the situation’ by the rest of the family. 

Millie had been petting Blaze, showing off the Ninetales to her friends. Well, her friends and a jerk named Trevor. Trevor was in one of her classes at school, and her mom had made her invite her whole class to her birthday party. This however, regrettably meant she had to include him. No matter how much she cried, begged, or even screamed her mom would not budge and let her exclude Trevor.

“Bet you won’t pull on one of her tails.” Trevor says, sitting with the rest of the kids looking as smug as you could be.

Even kids as young of them knew you weren’t supposed to pull on a Ninetales tail. Of course, it depended on the kid themselves if they new fully why. Trevor, who had been telling people he was going to be a pokémon trainer since he was four probably knew why. Millie however, who has been ignoring her papaw’s and dad’s ramblings on pokémon since she was four, did not. 

“Oh yeah!? Watch this!” Millie snaps back, reaching back and giving one of poor Blaze’s tails a good tug.

The results were immediate, the usually tolerant Blaze, twists back and snarls at Millie, and later all of them swear her eyes flashed a brighter red than usual. Papaw, as if sensing his pokémon’s distress, comes running over. Once he spots them all he immediately understands the situation. Then proceeds to makes it worse. 

He runs over and grabs Millie by her shoulders as the Ninetales retreats behind him.

“Millie, you idiot child! Did you pull on her tail?” He yells, shaking her a bit.

Teary eyed and unable to speak, she nods her head weakly. Her papaw’s eyes widen and he lets go of her shoulders.

“You’re CURSED! For 1,000 years Millie! How many times have I told you not to touch Blaze’s tails!”

Millie whose never listened to anyone in her six years of life is still going strong because all she hears is that she is cursed. The rest of the kids hear it too, and become spooked, cringing away from her like they could catch her curse just by being in her presence. Some start crying, and the whole situation becomes very chaotic as concerned parent’s rush over to check on their children. 

After hearing of the situation, the adult’s quickly take their kids and leave. A 1,000 year curse was something you didn’t want to somehow accidentally get involved in after all. It also didn’t help that Papaw was still hollering about it to anyone who dared to get close to him. 

Soon, Millie’s party was completely abandoned, she was crying, and most importantly she was cursed. That was what her mum came out to from where she was occupied grabbing Millie’s birthday cake from the fridge. 

Her mum then proceeds to get into an argument with papaw, asking why he couldn’t have waited until after the party to make a scene while Millie wipes her eyes. She looks over to Blaze who is staring at her coldly in a way she never has before. Turns out tail pulling is a quick way to burn bridges with a Ninetales as well. 

And thus, those were the events of ‘the situation’ which was actually only called that by Millie’s mum and dad because for the longest time if the word curse was uttered, she would breakout in tears. Her papaw on the other hand could care less about her tears, and just told it as it was. 

Ever since that day, Millie was convinced she was completely cursed. She was clumsy in a way she never was before, and misfortunes just kept piling up on her. For example, her father had taken it upon himself to enroll her into pokémon trainer school. 

The worst part was her dad didn’t even live with them, he was miles away doing research in Kanto and was still contributing to ruining Millie’s life. It wasn’t fair, yet here she was freshly turned eight years old reading a letter from her dad gushing how he got her accepted in the local trainer school. Sent on her birthday. Didn’t mom tell him that they don’t celebrate on her actual birthday but instead the day after? Who wanted to celebrate on the day they got cursed geez. 

However he did promise her something special if she graduated so Millie figured she could try and play along without too much of a fuss. She just hoped the special something would be a cute new hair scrunchie. 

“Are you excited for school, dear?” Millie’s mom asks excitedly, holding her hand as she walked her towards the entrance for school.

Millie shakes her head no, because why would she be excited? 

“Aw, Millie don’t be so negative! You look so cute today,” It’s true, her mum had went and bought her a cute new outfit for her first day.

“Plus, this will be a good opportunity to make some friends!” Her mum squeezes Millie’s hand as the little girl brightens.

She had lost any friends she had after her disastrous party, with rumors of her curse spreading soon even kids outside of her class went out of their way to avoid her. Her mum would never say, but it’s what encouraged her father to enroll her in a different school. 

“Mum, d’ya think I’ll really be able to make friends?”

“Of course, sweetheart.”

Millie wasn’t able to make any friends.

Her mum had dropped her off early in hopes of her having a chance to talk with her peers and initiate friendships before the first class but one thing that was not accounted for was Trevor. 

Millie couldn’t help but to let out a few frustrated tears as she sat in the back of the class away from everyone. Trevor had wasted no time telling everyone that she was cursed making everyone want to avoid her here just like her old school.

It was torture to watch dumb Trevor talk with all the kids and slowly befriend them in the way she herself should be doing. She really was cursed. Millie wiped her eyes quickly as the teacher walked in. Last thing she needed was to be called out for crying by a concerned teacher in front of everyone. 

Class started off slow, the teacher introduced themselves and spent some time talking about their pokémon and how much they loved them.

“Now that you know about me, how about you all introduce yourselves! Tell me your name and your favorite pokémon!” Mr. Brown says, smiling at them all in a way friendly way.

The introductions start from the front and as they work their way to the back, Millie swears she feels sick. How was she supposed to introduce herself to people who already hated her? She chewed on her lip as she watched the girl in front of her open her mouth to introduce herself.

“My name is Olivia and I love Sylveon!” 

Millie really liked Sylveon too, but would she be copying if she said that? 

“Alright, next is-” 

The door of the classroom bursts open before the teacher has the chance to finish his sentence.

“Sorry I’m late! I got lost looking for the classroom..” The tan boy who interrupted looks down and shuffles his feet, his face starting to look red after noticing a full class looking at him. 

“Ah...That’s fine. But don’t let it happen again! Now go take a seat.”

The boy looks around, but the only seat was available was the one to Millie’s right. He happily rushes over, probably excited to sit down and get everyone’s eyes off him if Millie were to guess.

“Now, where were we?” Mr. Brown says out loud, tapping his chin, “Ah yes! Introductions, you came at a good time young man! Now, tell us, what's your name and favorite pokémon?”

He had forgotten it was Millie’s turn! The girl was so happy, she felt like crying again.

“My name’s Leon and Wooloo’s are the best pokémon! Ever!”

Little did Millie know that this was the start of the complete downfall of her life. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Millie gets a present from her dad and uh wow is it a present.

After everyone’s introductions, class moved on without any more drama. Surprisingly, Pokémon trainer school isn’t that much different than normal school. AKA, it was boring. As Mr. Brown stands up front lecturing, Millie tries her best to listen but instead she found herself doodling little pictures of Pokémon on the worksheet they were supposed to be filling out. It was hard work, as some Pokémon just weren’t very easy to draw. 

Eventually Mr. Brown lets everyone loose for lunch, not before reminding them at least four times to be back in 30 minutes. Not that Millie needed the reminder, considering she was planning on just staying and eating lunch at her seat. Not like she had anyone to talk to thanks to Trevor. It is a complete shock when she hears a voice right next to her, excitedly shouting out,

“Those are really good Pikachu’s!”

Glancing up, Millie sees Leon, her knight and shining armor, leaning over his desk to see her doodles.

“Oh..um..thanks…”

Millie feels her face starting to heat up. They were just stupid doodles, why is he complimenting them? She fumbles with some sort of response.

“I think Wooloo’s are cool too.”

She’s not sure why, but Millie feels like every ounce of social grace has left her body. What did his introduction have to do with him liking her drawings? She hadn’t even doodled a Wooloo on the worksheet.

Leon doesn't seem to think twice about her response because he just beams at her.

“Down in Postwick, the place is cock full of them. My neighbor owns a farm and he lets me help herd them sometimes!”

Millie wrinkled her nose, herding Wooloo sounded like a lot of work but she wasn’t about to say that out loud to Leon. He looked chuffed just thinking about it. Maybe because he was from Postwick, they had plenty more Wooloo over there in comparison to Wedgehurst. 

Despite the lull in conversation and awkward silence, Leon doesn’t ditch her.

“What’s your name? I cocked up and got here late, so I missed your introduction.” Leon says, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh! My names Millie!”

Leon grins and waits for her to continue. Millie smiles back awkwardly, wondering why he was just staring at her. This goes on for what feels like forever until Leon open’s his mouth again, 

“You forgot to say your favorite Pokémon, Millie!”

“Oh yeah! Right, um…”

Millie wanted to bang her head into her desk. Why was she so stupid? She couldn’t even think of her favorite Pokémon. It had always been her grandpa’s Ninetales but that wasn’t an option now. Pokémon like Pikachu and Slyveon were cute but they weren’t her favorite.

“I don’t...really have one I guess.” Millie sneaks a glance at the purple haired boy and wants to sink into the floor.

Leon looks, appalled. Like what she said was the most asinine thing he’s ever heard. 

“You don’t have one?!”, Millie nodded hesitantly to confirm.

Leon shakes his head, running his hand through his hair. He looks like he is thinking hard before finally his face lights up again and he points at you.

“That’s it! When we are trainers, we will have to fill out our pokédex and find your favorite together!”

Millie could feel herself getting teary eyed, as she shouted in agreement with him. A friend! On her first day too!

Leon stayed her friend too. Not even the whispers of the other students or Trevor’s big mouth discouraged him. Her mum was beside herself when she came home and told her about her new friend. She had even called Millie’s dad to spread the good news! Better yet, Millie’s dad promised her that if she kept up the good work, he would send her special gift to her even sooner! Throughout the first semester of trainer school, the two of them remained inseparable. Things were starting to shape up! For the first time in a while, Millie hadn’t even stopped to think about her curse.

But alas, all good things eventually were doomed to come to an end for poor Millie. The misfortune all started with her dad’s ‘special gift’. 

Mille had just walked through the door when her mum shoved a rotom phone in her face. There on the screen has her dad’s smiling face. 

“Hey there kiddo! How was school today?” Her dad had his phone a bit too close to his face so his voice carried over louder than necessary causing Millie to flinch.

“It was good, Dad. How’s work?” Millie asks, as she observes every pore in her dad’s face. He seriously did not need to have it zoomed in that close, geez.

“Oh, come off it Millie, I know you don’t wanna hear about your dad’s boring ole’ work,” Millie gives him a shrug and giggles. He was right after all. 

Her dad just chortles back at her. “Nice to know I’m raising an honest kid! I got exciting news for you, ya know! Since your doing so good in school, I’ve decided to send your present a little early.” 

“No way! Really dad?!” Mille gasps, now yelling into the phone just like her dad.

“Yup, and if you finish your homework before dinner your mum will give it to you tonight.”

Millie groans dramatically. There always had to be some sort of catch didn’t there? This was not a good turn of events because Millie hasn’t done a lick of homework in her whole trainer school career. She’s been copying off Leon every morning before class since day one. Her mum comes in from the kitchen, taking the phone away from her laughing. 

“Better start working on your homework dear.” 

Millie stomps up to her room. How hard could the homework be anyways?

The answer was very hard. It has been thirty minutes since she started and Millie was only on question three. Chewing on her pencil, she tried her best to remember her types and what went good against what. Why did there have to be so many? If it was just fire, water, and grass she’d be ace at this!

Supper was going to be done soon and Millie would sooner poke a Pangoro than miss her chance to get her gift tonight. Deciding to just risk it, she writes down random things as answers to make it look like the homework was done. Her mum wasn’t really going to read through her homework right? It’s not like she’s been paying attention before tonight. 

Grabbing the papers, Millie rushes downstairs towards the kitchen. She had finished just in time as both her mum and grandpa were already sitting at the table. 

“Did you finish your homework? You were so quiet up there I was beginning to worry.” Her mom says, smiling and completely unaware of the deception at play. 

“Yup! Finished it all!” Millie exclaims hastily, waving the papers at her mom quickly.

“Good work sweetie! Now go put it away and join us for supper. We will do your gift after.” Her mum says, not even thinking of stopping to check her work. Millie’s grandpa on the other hand squints his eyes at her suspiciously. Thankfully for Millie, he decides to keep his mouth shut. 

Supper goes by slow as Millie practically shakes in her seat from excitement. She eats her food at record speed, and sits there waiting for the rest of her family to be done. Millie swore they were eating extra slow on purpose.

Eventually, the food is gone and it is officially present time. Millie is instructed to close her eyes as her mom ventures out of the dining room to grab her gift. Millie can barely contain herself as she sits there with her eyes closed. Not peeking was becoming harder by the second, especially as her mum’s footsteps get closer and closer. 

Millie feels heavy something drop into her lap.

“Alright, you can open your eyes sweetheart!” 

Millie’s eyes shoot open and she eagerly looks down to the present in her lap only to pause. In her lap was a…..Pokémon egg? She glances up to her mom, who is beaming down at her, feeling confused. Why did she hand her an egg? Where was her dad’s gift?

Seeing her confused look, her mum excitedly begins to explain. 

“Since your doing so well in school, your dad decided to send you a pokemon partner early! A partner all the way from Kanto too, consider yourself lucky Millie!” 

At the time neither of them fully understood the irony of those words. 

“That girl will never be lucky.” Her grandpa mutters from the other end of the table, but quickly zips it when her mum shoots him a dirty look. 

Millie however, can’t help but to agree. She didn’t want a Pokémon egg, she wanted a new hair scrunchie! Or headband! Or any accessory really! What in the world was her dad thinking? 

Mistaking her lackluster response as hurt from grandpa’s comment, her mum dismisses her from the table.

“Why don’t you take your Pokémon egg upstairs, and get some rest? I’m sure your excited to show your little friend tomorrow what you got at school tomorrow!” Her mum then turns to grandpa to give him an earful. 

Millie carries her egg upstairs and lays it next to her in bed.

“You better be something cool.” She pouts at it, before turning her lights off and going to sleep. 

The next day at school, Leon acts as though she won the lottery. 

“WOW! I can’t believe he gave you a Pokémon egg! From Kanto! They have all kinds of wicked Pokémon over there. I wonder what it is!” He picks up the egg, staring intently at and rotating it. 

Did he think turning it could reveal what kind of Pokémon it was? Millie didn’t really get it. What was so exciting about a dumb egg, she would rather have a new hair scrunchie. 

“You better carry it everywhere with you so it’ll hatch faster. I can’t wait to see what it is!”

By the time class started, Leon had not exhausted the egg topic yet. It seemed as though the only thing they were going to talk about was the egg resting in her book bag.

Halfway through the class, Millie realizes that she forgot to get the real answers for the homework from Leon. She had totally turned in her made up answers to Mr. Brown. All because they were too busy talking about the egg. Today was beginning to feel like a horror story. 

Despite not being a big fan of her gift, Millie still carried the little egg everywhere with her and slept with it every night. It did not take very long for whatever was inside to start shaking the egg. 

The first time the egg started shaking she was at Leon’s house. The both of them practically screamed in excitement. Spending so much time with the egg, Millie couldn’t help but start to feel some sort of anticipation to meet the Pokémon inside. A first Pokémon was a pretty big deal, and Millie knew for sure that her’s was going to be so cute and they’d get along great.

Of course, when the time came for the egg to finally hatch those dreams were crushed. It was recess when the egg started to crack.

“Leon, Look! It’s hatching!” Millie shouted even though the boy was right beside her. She tugged on his arm, buzzing with excitement.

“I can’t wait to see what it is!” Leon responds, linking his arm through hers. 

Their shouts attracted the attention of the other student’s and soon there was a crowd around them as people tried to see the egg hatching for themselves. Millie couldn’t be happier. This was the perfect time for her egg to hatch, let all the other kids be jealous of her brand new super cool Pokémon!

After a good couple of minutes, the egg finally cracks open revealing the pokémon inside. The crowd goes silent. Leon’s mouth opened in a perfect ‘o’. Millie stared in disbelief because there on the ground, flopping on the pieces of egg shells was a small Magikarp. Nobody said anything.

The crowd stayed quiet for a couple minutes before laughter rang out from the back. There stood Trevor, laughing dramatically and clutching his gut.

“That’s perfect Pokémon for you! It’s useless!” 

This broke the silence and other kids began laughing too.

“It figures she’d hatch something dumb like that!”

“I don’t know why we expected anything different!”

Millie felt her face heat up and she couldn’t stop the tears from welling up in her eyes. She tore her arm away from Leon, snatching up her Magikarp she ran out of the schoolyard and towards home. So caught up in not trying to cry, she didn’t hear Leon trying his best to stick up for her.

When she walks through the door of her house three hours early and crying, her mum all but has a panic attack.

“Millie! What’s wrong?”

Millie can’t even speak through her ugly sobs. Her mum opens her arms and she practically sprints into them. 

“The kids at school..making fun...because...Magikarp!” She manages to spit out.

“What?” Her mum didn’t understand a word her child just said.

Millie leans back from her mum’s embrace and shows her the Magikarp resting in her arms. Her mum just stares back for a moment confused before it clicks.

“Is that….the Pokémon from the egg your father sent you?”

Millie nods her head, looking miserable. 

Her mum wastes no time getting her dad on the phone, asking him to explain himself. 

“Magikarp? What are you talking about dear, I didn’t send out a Magikarp egg.”

Millie’s mum flashes the camera to their daughter who was looking miserable holding the Magikarp. 

“What the…” Her dad scratches his head, “I don’t know how but somehow I must have sent the wrong egg. Oops!” He laughs awkwardly at his wife’s hard stare. Millie’s mum shakes her head. There was nothing anyone could do about it now.

“Comfort your daughter.” She says, shoving the phone in her daughter’s face.

Millie stares solemnly at her dad through the screen, her eyes still puffy from crying. Her dad forces himself to smile brightly at her.

“Heya kiddo! I see your Pokémon egg hatched! Wow, that’s uhhh…” He stumbles over his words looking at the dull Pokémon in her arms, “Healthy Magikarp! They are um...neat Pokemon! Did you know some can jump up to seven feet?” 

Millie’s eyes start to tear up again and soon she was crying all over again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is trash srry.
> 
> Originally I was going to have the pokemon be a Dratini and had a whole plot planned out but then last minute I changed it to this. I feel like this fits better with the theme of the story and I have some fun things planned out too!
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos and comments last chapter, literally every one helped me write this hell chapter. Also ya'll had some good ass dream teams.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been in love with Pokemon for a while. I've played all the games but tbh I've never beaten one. I've only gotten as far as the elite four in one game. Until sword and shield that is, and that's only because Leon is 10/10. Also I totally picture Leon to be just as excitable as Hop when he was younger lmao
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this! Feel free to drop a comment! Low key am curious to hear what people's dream teams are....


End file.
